Tajin mahshi

Ingredients

The vegetables

• 4sweet peppers
• 4small courgettes
• 2aubergines
• or 6 small ones
• tops cut off and kept
• hollowed out

The filling

• 500 gminced lamb
• or beef
• 150 gshort grain rice
• rinsed
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• chopped parsley and mint
• 1 tablespoonbzar
• or mixed Libyan spice
• salt and black pepper

The sauce

• 3 tablespoonstomato purée
• 4tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
• half a teaspoon chilli, optional
• 4 tablespoonsolive oil
• about 800 ml water

To serve

• hot from the oven
• with bread
• at family meals
• and at Ramadan

Directions

1. Fill them about three quarters full. A long thin tool scoops out the flesh. Chop it finely before adding it. Put the hollowed shells in salted water. That stops them browning while you work.
2. Drain them well before filling. The minced meat must be cooked right through. Bake it long enough for both of those. The rice should be entirely soft. Return it to the oven if it is not. Cut the tops off and keep them as lids. Cut about a centimetre from the stem end.
3. Keep each lid with its own vegetable. That keeps the filling in as it bakes. Scoop the flesh out with a corer. Work slowly and steadily rather than forcing it.
4. Turn the corer as you push it in. Leave walls about half a centimetre thick. Do not push through the closed base. Cut the top off and pull the core out. Shake out any remaining seeds. Mix the meat, rice, onion, garlic and herbs. Work everything together with your hands.
5. Mix it thoroughly rather than lightly. The rice must be evenly distributed. Season the filling very generously. It should taste clearly seasoned when raw. Fry a small piece to check if unsure. Chop them finely before mixing them in. Rinse the rice before it goes in. Otherwise the filling becomes gluey. Drain it well before mixing it in. Spoon the filling into each vegetable.
6. Use a small spoon and work carefully. Do not pack it tightly at all. Fill to about three quarters only. Put each lid back onto its vegetable. It also keeps the vegetable moist inside. Press it on gently to seat it. It does not need any securing at all.
7. Fry the tomato purée in the olive oil. Give it about two minutes in the hot oil. Add the scooped vegetable flesh too. Stir in the cinnamon and any chilli. It gives a warm background note. Pour in the water and season the sauce. The sauce should be thin rather than thick. Season it well, since it flavours everything. Stand the vegetables upright in a baking dish.
8. Pack them close so they support each other. They fall over if there is too much space. Fill any gaps with extra vegetable pieces. Stand them lid up rather than on their side. Pour the sauce around the vegetables. It should come about halfway up them.
9. Cover the dish and bake it in a moderate oven. About one hundred and eighty degrees works well. Cover it tightly with foil to start. Give it about fifty minutes covered. Keep it covered for most of the baking. Take the foil off for the last twenty minutes. The vegetables take on a roasted flavour.
10. Baste them once with the sauce. Check the liquid level partway through. Add hot water if it has all been absorbed. Dry vegetables burn and the rice stays hard. Check at about the thirty minute mark. It should be entirely soft with no hard core. Return it covered if it needs longer. The vegetables should be soft and yielding. Let the dish rest for ten minutes. It also lets them cool enough to eat.
11. Lift the vegetables out onto plates. Use a spoon and a fork to lift them. Spoon plenty of the sauce over each plate. Spoon it around and over the vegetables. None of it should be left in the dish. Serve plenty of bread alongside the plates. It is substantial enough on its own.

Technique

• Fill the vegetables only about three quarters full and pack the filling loosely: rice roughly triples in volume as it cooks and that expansion has to happen inside the vegetable. Overfilled or tightly packed vegetables burst open and leave the rice hard in the centre — it is the commonest mistake in stuffed vegetables.
• Do not push the corer through the closed base, which is the commonest accident. Work slowly, turning the corer as you push, leaving walls about half a centimetre thick — thinner walls collapse during baking — and stop before you reach the far end.
• Keep the dish tightly covered for most of the baking, since the trapped steam is what cooks the rice; uncovered, the sauce evaporates too fast and the rice stays hard. Check the liquid at about thirty minutes and add hot water if it has all been absorbed.

Substitutions

• Baharat is the closest widely sold substitute for bzar, the Libyan spice blend of cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, coriander, pepper and cloves — genuinely close but not identical, and the atlas records that honestly. Beef replaces lamb directly.
• Tajin here means the baking dish rather than the Moroccan conical earthenware pot; the words share a root but are used differently, which the atlas records plainly. Stuffed vegetables run across the region as Turkish dolma, Greek gemista and Levantine mahshi, each with its own filling and seasoning.

Variations

• The rice goes in uncooked and cooks inside the vegetable, absorbing the meat juices and sauce — rinse it first to remove surface starch, or the filling turns gluey. Season the filling very generously, since it is sealed inside and cannot be adjusted later; fry a small piece to check if unsure.
• Keep the sauce thin rather than thick, since the rice absorbs a great deal of it and a thick sauce leaves it undercooked. Pour it only about halfway up the vegetables so the tops stay above and can brown.
• The scooped-out flesh is not wasted: chop it finely into the sauce or the filling, which is genuine Libyan practice. Put hollowed aubergine shells in salted water while you work, since the flesh discolours quickly.

History

A staple of Libyan family cooking and Ramadan tables, the vegetables filled and simmered in tomato sauce.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tajin mahshi?

Tajin mahshi is a main from Libya: peppers, courgettes and aubergines stuffed with minced meat and rice, then baked. A staple of Libyan family cooking and Ramadan tables, the vegetables filled and simmered in tomato sauce.

How long does Tajin mahshi take to make?

Tajin mahshi takes 45 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Tajin mahshi?

Yes, within limits. Baharat is the closest widely sold substitute for bzar, the Libyan spice blend of cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, coriander, pepper and cloves — genuinely close but not identical, and the atlas records that honestly. Beef replaces lamb directly. Tajin here means the baking dish rather than the Moroccan conical earthenware pot; the words share a root but are used differently, which the atlas records plainly. Stuffed vegetables run across the region as Turkish dolma, Greek gemista and Levantine mahshi, each with its own filling and seasoning.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tajin mahshi?

Drain them well before filling. The minced meat must be cooked right through. Bake it long enough for both of those. The rice should be entirely soft. Return it to the oven if it is not. Cut the tops off and keep them as lids. Cut about a centimetre from the stem end.